The article discusses which of the playoff teams waste the most outs in a reaction to Theo Epstein's charge that J.D. Drew's offensive stats don't matter so much, because he doesn't make any outs.
Let's run the numbers the way the article does, and then compare the Astros to the rest of the National League.
GIDP: 153 (Tejada led the team with 29, Pence had 25, and Lee had 21)
Sac Bunts: 66 (Matsui led the team with 16)
Caught Stealing: 44 (Bourn and Pence combined for 23)
Errors: 78
So that's a total of 341 wasted outs by the Astros in 2009.
Let's get a look at the National League in Wasted Outs (playoff teams in bold, worst offenders in italics)
| Team | GIDPs | Sac Bunts | CS | Errors | Total |
| Nationals | 133 | 64 | 40 | 143 | 380 |
| Mets | 144 | 88 | 44 | 97 | 373 |
| Braves | 142 | 95 | 26 | 96 | 359 |
| Dodgers | 141 | 78 | 48 | 83 | 350 |
| Astros | 153 | 66 | 44 | 78 | 341 |
| Cubs | 134 | 65 | 34 | 105 | 338 |
| Reds | 103 | 100 | 40 | 89 | 332 |
| Rockies | 111 | 76 | 55 | 87 | 329 |
| Padres | 131 | 74 | 29 | 94 | 328 |
| Cardinals | 127 | 68 | 31 | 96 | 322 |
| Marlins | 110 | 70 | 35 | 106 | 321 |
| Brewers | 128 | 58 | 37 | 98 | 321 |
| D-Backs | 93 | 54 | 40 | 124 | 311 |
| Giants | 115 | 67 | 28 | 88 | 298 |
| Pirates | 124 | 60 | 32 | 73 | 289 |
| Phillies | 90 | 55 | 28 | 76 | 249 |
The article is quick to point out that "saving outs" doesn't translate into winning. There are two division cellar-dwellers in the top four among Wasted Outs. But it is worth noting that the more "disappointing" teams are at the top of the list, and of course, the Astros had the League-worst in GIDP.
